


Falling

by hilarychuff



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Episode: s01e06 FZZT, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 11:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hilarychuff/pseuds/hilarychuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some small, silly part of her is sure she'll be falling forever, but then she sees him, a speck on her vision and then a shadow in a cloud and then a fantasy flying toward her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> i did not expect this show to consume me like it has. fzzt and jemma in particular have been unshakable lately. hope you enjoy.

The wind is knives against her skin, stealing tears from her eyes, but it isn't so terrible, falling. Maybe it's because she hasn't hit the water yet, can't even see it looming quickly below her because she's fixed her vision carefully on the bus above as it gets smaller and smaller and then winks out behind a cloud. Maybe it's because she knows it's the right thing, throwing herself away on a jet stream where, when she pulses, it'll only make the blue sky that much bluer. Or maybe it's just because some small, silly part of her is sure she'll be falling forever. 

But then she sees him, a speck on her vision and then a shadow in a cloud and then a fantasy flying toward her, and all of a sudden he's close enough for her to make out who he is, why he's there. She wants to shout at him for following her, for embracing the sky like she has (because she's done it so they hadn't needed to, hadn't he seen that, and if he had how had he possibly been so daft), but the wind steals her voice and all she can manage is a whimper. 

He's reaching for her, arms extended, and all she can think of is straightening her body, diving down further and faster so he can't touch her, so she can't touch him, but her arms are traitors and they reach for him right back. He's got her then, his hands under her thighs but when her own palms meet his shoulders it's to shove him away, shove him away from the electricity thrumming through her fingertips because doesn't he get it? She might be too far to kill all of them, but she can still kill him and hasn't he been paying attention to how this whole thing works?

But her hands are traitors too and she chokes on a sob when she finds her fingers curling around the straps on his pack, clutching him to her, and all she can manage is breathing I'm sorrys into his cheek as he wraps his arms around her back. They'll go together, at least, and it's not what she wanted for him but it's nice not to be alone. 

The pain registers sharply in her leg then and she gasps, but the realization of what it means isn't far behind and she can hardly breathe for all the hope constricting inside her throat. Her legs hitch around his hips and his hand is firm on her back when, suddenly, they jerk to a standstill in the sky, or near enough. His grip is all that keeps her with him, the air sweet again around her even as her vision swims before her eyes, and then - 

She wakes in the water, half-draped over his shoulder with the backs of her knees still hooked limply around his waist. She can feel his legs, strong and powerful and steady beneath her as he treads water, and one hand is careful at the nape of her neck, cradling her against him. She's freezing, teeth clacking painfully, but his chest is warm against hers and she burrows her face in his shoulder. His words are muffled and far away but they're low and constant, reassuring, and it doesn't matter what he's saying because he's there, alive, and she hasn't killed him, or anyone, and for now that's enough.


End file.
